Chapter 301 THE NIGHT SAMUEL DISAPPEARED
Chapter 301 THE NIGHT SAMUEL DISAPPEARED
Marco doesn't answer.
He just stares at the photograph.
The words written across the back seem heavier than the paper itself.
Ask Marco what happened the night Samuel disappeared.
I look at my brother.
My heart is pounding.
"You know."
His jaw tightens.
"You know what happened to Samuel."
Marco finally looks at me.
"Yes."
The word lands like a gunshot.
For a moment, nobody moves.
Even Amani is silent.
I stare at Marco.
"Then tell me."
Marco looks away.
"Zuri—"
"No."
My voice shakes.
"I'm done with everyone deciding when I'm ready for the truth."
Marco closes his eyes.
When he opens them again, something has changed.
The fight is gone.
Only guilt remains.
"Samuel was supposed to take you."
My chest tightens.
"Take me where?"
"From the first Silver Wolf safehouse."
I stare at him.
"The night I disappeared?"
"Yes."
Marco takes a breath.
"After the convoy was attacked, you were supposed to reach a safehouse. Samuel was the one assigned to move you from there."
"But he never came."
Marco shakes his head.
"He never arrived."
"What happened?"
"I went looking for him."
"Where?"
"Three miles from the safehouse."
His voice drops.
"I found his motorcycle."
My stomach twists.
"Was he there?"
"No."
"His bike?"
"Abandoned."
"What else?"
Marco looks at the floor.
"His communication device was destroyed."
I feel a cold wave move through me.
"And?"
"There was blood."
My breath catches.
"His blood?"
"I don't know."
"Did you find a body?"
"No."
"So you don't know if he died."
Marco looks at me.
"No."
I swallow.
"Then why did you believe he was dead?"
"Because nobody survives what I found."
Silence.
I look down at the photograph.
Samuel.
My mother.
Voss.
Marco.
People who were supposed to protect me.
People who knew what happened to me.
And somehow, all of them lost something that night.
"Was it Antonio?"
Marco's expression hardens.
"I never had proof."
"But you suspected him."
"Of course I did."
"Why?"
"Because Antonio had already discovered the escape."
He looks toward the warehouse doors.
"And because anyone who tried to help you became a target."
My fingers tighten around the photograph.
"There's something else."
Marco looks at me.
"You didn't tell me everything."
He says nothing.
"What happened before Samuel disappeared?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie."
Marco's jaw clenches.
I step closer.
"You've lied to me enough."
Amani remains behind me.
Watching.
Waiting.
Marco finally exhales.
"Samuel contacted me."
"When?"
"The night before he disappeared."
"What did he say?"
Marco hesitates.
Then his voice becomes quiet.
"He said someone inside the network knew where you were."
My stomach drops.
"Inside Silver Wolf?"
He nods.
"I thought he meant someone working for Antonio."
"But he didn't."
"No."
"What else did he say?"
Marco looks at me.
"He warned me."
"About what?"
Marco's eyes darken.
"He said, 'Don't trust anyone carrying the Silver Wolf mark.'"
I stop breathing.
"What?"
"That was the last warning he gave me."
My mind races.
Silver Wolf was supposed to be the network protecting me.
The people helping my mother.
The people who were supposed to get me away from Antonio.
But if someone inside the network betrayed us...
then the danger was never only outside.
It was already inside.
A sharp pain suddenly cuts through my head.
I close my eyes.
And the warehouse disappears.
I'm somewhere else.
Smaller.
Younger.
A room filled with shadows.
Samuel is kneeling in front of me.
He's scared.
I've never seen him scared before.
His hands rest on my shoulders.
"If anything happens..."
His voice trembles.
I stare at him.
"What?"
He looks toward the door.
Then back at me.
"Remember the wolf."
I don't understand.
"The wolf?"
He touches the symbol on a silver pendant.
"Remember it."
"Why?"
His eyes fill with something I can't name.
Fear.
Then someone calls from outside.
"Samuel!"
His head snaps toward the door.
He stands immediately.
"Stay here."
"Where are you going?"
He doesn't answer.
He opens the door.
The memory shatters.
I gasp.
My eyes fly open.
Amani catches my arm before I stumble.
"Zuri."
I breathe hard.
Marco is staring at me.
"What did you see?"
I look at him.
"Samuel."
His face changes.
"What about him?"
"He was with me."
Marco takes a step closer.
"What did he say?"
I tell him.
Every word.
When I finish, Marco looks like someone punched the air out of him.
"He knew."
"Knew what?"
"Something."
He looks at the Silver Wolf symbol on the device.
"That's why he warned me."
Before I can ask anything else, Ghost speaks.
"Wait."
We turn.
He's crouched over the old communication device.
His fingers move across the damaged casing.
"What?"
"There was a hidden file."
Amani walks over.
"Can you open it?"
Ghost nods.
"Maybe."
Static fills the warehouse.
Then a recording begins.
A man's breathing.
Faint.
Distorted.
But familiar.
Samuel.
My heart stops.
His voice breaks through the static.
"If this recording is recovered..."
A burst of interference.
"...there's no time."
Marco moves closer.
Samuel continues.
"Marco isn't the traitor."
I look at my brother.
His eyes close.
The recording crackles.
"Don't let them..."
Static.
"...find her."
More interference.
Then one final word.
Clear.
"Inside."
The recording dies.
Nobody speaks.
I stare at Marco.
"Samuel knew."
Marco nods slowly.
"He knew someone would blame me."
"Because he knew you were going to keep looking for me."
"Yes."
"How long did you search?"
Marco looks at me.
"Years."
I swallow.
"And you found me."
He doesn't deny it.
"Eventually."
"Where?"
"I followed a trace."
"What trace?"
"Money. Transfers. Old Moretti contacts."
My chest tightens.
"You found me."
"Yes."
"When?"
Marco looks away.
"Years before you remembered me."
My anger rises again.
"You could have taken me."
"I know."
"You could have told me who I was."
"I know."
"You could have gotten me away from Antonio."
Marco's eyes fill with regret.
"I know."
I step closer.
"Then why didn't you?"
His voice breaks.
"Because Voss stopped me."
I stare at him.
"Of course."
"He told me your memories were already suppressed."
"So?"
"He said pulling you out could destroy what was left."
"He didn't know that."
"He believed it."
"And you believed him."
"I was terrified."
I shake my head.
"You don't get to call abandoning me protection."
Marco doesn't fight back.
He simply looks at me.
"I know."
That answer hurts more than an excuse would have.
"I should have taken the risk."
His voice is barely audible.
"I should have given you the choice."
I look away.
For years, everyone has told me their choices were made for my protection.
My mother.
Marco.
Voss.
Antonio.
But the results were never the same.
Some protected me.
Some controlled me.
Some erased me.
And now I have to decide what to do with the truth.
Marco takes a breath.
"There was another reason Samuel disappeared."
I turn.
"What?"
"Samuel found something."
"What?"
"Proof."
"Of what?"
"Antonio had infiltrated Silver Wolf."
The words settle heavily between us.
Marco continues.
"Someone inside the network was feeding Antonio information."
My heart sinks.
"About the safehouses."
"Yes."
"The routes."
"Yes."
"My mother's plan."
"Yes."
"And me."
Marco nods.
"Especially you."
I look at the photograph again.
My mother didn't just lose me.
She lost the network that was supposed to save me.
Samuel wasn't simply protecting me.
He was trying to expose the person who was destroying every chance I had to escape.
"Did he know who it was?"
Marco shakes his head.
"I think he was close."
"Then someone stopped him."
"Before he could expose them."
I stare at the Silver Wolf symbol.
The truth is beginning to take shape.
The betrayal wasn't simply about handing me back to Antonio.
It was about destroying the people who could protect me.
I turn toward Marco.
"You should have told me."
"I know."
"I don't know if I can forgive you."
Marco's expression softens.
"You don't have to forgive me."
I stare at him.
"But I'm still here."
He swallows.
"You don't have to forgive me to let me help you finish this."
For the first time, I don't see only the brother who failed me.
I see someone who has spent years hunting the same darkness that swallowed me.
I don't forgive him.
Not yet.
But I don't tell him to leave.
A sudden crackle comes from the communication device.
Ghost freezes.
Everyone turns toward him.
"There's another transmission."
The room goes silent.
Static fills the warehouse.
Then a man's voice comes through.
Older.
Calm.
Controlled.
Familiar.
My entire body goes cold.
I've heard that voice before.
Not in a memory.
Not in a photograph.
In my childhood.
The voice speaks slowly.
"Zuri..."
My heart stops.
"If you're hearing this, Marco finally told you about Samuel."
I look at my brother.
He has gone completely pale.
The voice continues.
"Now you need to know why your mother chose him."
Static.
Then silence.
The transmission cuts.
Nobody moves.
I turn toward Marco.
"Who was that?"
He doesn't answer.
His eyes remain fixed on the dead device.
I step closer.
"Marco."
Nothing.
"Who was that?"
He finally looks at me.
And for the first time since we found the photograph...
I see something in his eyes I've never seen before.
Not guilt.
Not shame.
Fear.
Real fear.